2019 Swim Guide

This summer, Pearl Riverkeeper volunteers conducted weekly E.coli testing at 17 Pearl River, Strong River and Ross Barnett Reservoir locations in order to provide you with information about whether it was safe to recreate!  Expanding from 4 locations in 2018 to 17+ locations in 2019 would not have been possible without our amazing Water Rangers certified volunteer water monitors. Our volunteers are trained in the Quality Assurance protocols developed by Alabama Water Watch and certified by EPA Region 4. 
     Neither the MS Department of Environmental Quality nor the MS Department of Public Health conducts this type of weekly E.coli testing on our freshwater rivers and reservoirs.   We think that's a shame, so our volunteers spent Wednesdays in the summer testing your favorite Pearl River watershed locations to keep you informed!

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What is E.coli?
E. coli, a bacteria found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, can enter our waterways through agricultural runoff, wildlife, and leaking septic/sewer systems.  Human risk of getting sick from recreating in open water increases as E. coli concentration increases and young people and people with a compromised immune system are at greater risk.  E.coli itself can cause illnesses such as "swimmer's ear", upset stomach, and diarrhea, and E.coli can also indicate the presence of other more harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella and Giardia.

Pearl Riverkeeper volunteers conducted 195 E.coli tests during 13 weeks in June through August at:

• Upper Pearl: Highway 35, Old Highway 13, Coal Bluff, Leake County Water Park
• Ross Barnett Reservoir: Natchez Trace Overlook, Old Trace Park, Lakeshore Park, Pelahatchie Creek
• ​Lower Pearl: Belhaven Beach, Old River Bridge, Crystal Lake, Byram Swinging Bridge, Georgetown Bridge, West Pearl River-LA
• Strong River: Bridgeport Rd Bridge, Highway 28 Bridge, Robert Bush Rd, D'Lo Water Park
• Merit Water Park

​Results were posted each Friday on the Pearl Riverkeeper website, Swim Guide and through text alerts.  A location was marked Green if the test met EPA water quality standards or marked Red if the test exceeded the standard.  We issued 28 "high E.coli" alerts over the 13 weeks of summer.  Read the full results.  Below are pie charts listing the percentages of Pass (E.coli levels within EPA recommended limits for recreation) and Fail (E.coli levels above limits) results for each location during the summer 2019 season. 

Upper Pearl: Hwy35

Upper Pearl: Hwy13

Upper Pearl: Coal Bluff

Upper Pearl: Leake County Water Park

Reservoir: Natchez Trace Overlook

Reservoir: Lakeshore Park

Reservoir: Old Trace Park

Reservoir: Pelahatchie Creek

Crystal Lake

Belhaven Beach

Old River Bridge

Byram Swinging Bridge

Georgetown Bridge

Strong River-Bridgeport Rd Bridge

Strong River-Robert Bush Rd

Strong River-Hwy28

West Pearl River, LA

About our results:  Heavy rains, particularly runoff from Hurricane Barry in July, had significant impact on local water quality.  A rain event within 24 hours of testing often resulted in a "high E.coli" reading.  Experts recommend that people use extra caution for several days after rainstorms as sewer overflows, failing septic and stormwater runoff can contain high levels of bacteria.  

Read our Frequently Asked Questions

What's next?  Pearl Riverkeeper is continually expanding our citizen science water quality monitoring program. We will be training another group of Bacteriological Monitoring volunteers in Spring 2020.  During the off season, Pearl Riverkeeper volunteers will be conducting monthly Bacteriological testing at current locations and at additional locations in the Jackson area.  Bacteriological Monitoring at the Jackson area locations will be used to assess impacts to the Pearl River and its urban tributaries from sanitary sewer overflows and leaks. In addition to Bacteriological Monitoring, volunteers are also conducting Water Chemistry Monitoring which involves testing pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, hardness, alkalinity and temperature. 

The state of Mississippi has over 26,000 miles of perennial streams and rivers. For the state's 2016 Water Quality Assessment, MDEQ assessed only 11% of our waterways and stated that the status of water quality on the remaining 89% (23,568 miles) is unknown. Citizen science from our certified water quality monitors can help fill in the gaps and provide early detection of water quality issues in areas not actively monitored.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

• Volunteer for our the Pearl Riverkeeper Water Rangers or Clean Water Team
• Text "PRKSWIMGUIDE" to 844-83 to receive water quality alerts by text message
• Support our work financially by becoming a member  ​

Thank you to all of our volunteers, supporters, Swim Guide, MDEQ and Global Water Watch for making this year of Swim Guide a huge success!